


the same stars for everyone

by escapism_addict



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bisexual Sokka (Avatar), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Everyone Has Issues, Firelord Zuko (Avatar), Fluff, Gay Zuko (Avatar), Hurt Sokka (Avatar), Hurt Zuko (Avatar), Implied Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), M/M, Mentioned Ozai (Avatar), Minor Character Death, Ozai (Avatar) is an Asshole, POV Sokka (Avatar), Past Sokka/Yue (Avatar), Post-Canon, Post-Episode: s03e18-21 Sozin's Comet, Protective Zuko (Avatar), Soft Zuko (Avatar), Sokka (Avatar) Needs a Hug, Sokka (Avatar)-centric, Zuko (Avatar) Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:02:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27559537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/escapism_addict/pseuds/escapism_addict
Summary: “Hey,” Zuko whispered, “It’s going to be okay. We won, Sokka, we should be happy, celebrating even.”Zuko let out a mirthless laugh.“Fuck, but it doesn’t feel like it.” Zuko admitted.OrThey were only kids fighting in the war. Sokka reflects on the end of the war, while holding hands with the love of his life and staring at the stars above.
Relationships: Sokka & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 62





	the same stars for everyone

The two boys laid together on the soft grass in the gardens of Caldera Palace. The war was over, finally after one hundred years. There still wasn’t peace, maybe there wouldn’t be for a while, there was still hate and hurt which needed to be cured, healed. When one side wins, another looses, leaving thousands angry, thousands defeated. Who knows if they will accept this defeat? Who knows what the future holds? How many more battles will be fought? Infinite maybe. Peace is an illusion, a temporary state, it never lasts. But for now, this very night with the stars glimmering above, with two boys who love each other laying side by side, both wounded, both in pain, but nevertheless together. Maybe they can call this peace. Just for now at least. Just for this very moment, they can rest. 

“It’s over. It’s really, truly over.” Sokka muttered.  
“Yeah. We won.” Zuko replied. His voice was more strained then usual, attempting to hide his pain. Getting hit by lightening does that to you, Sokka supposed. But he was alive, alive, alive and talking. Saying that we won. Stating the obvious yet unbelievable. 

But at what cost?  
Sokka wanted to ask. They lost people, people whom they loved and treasured and cared about. So many people, gone forever. ( The half crescent moon looked lovely tonight. ) Even the ones who remain alive are hurt, never to truly be the same again. Scarred, broken, their innocence and childhoods stripped away from them. A former shell of their past selves. Never to unsee the seen, never to rid the nightmares, the horrors endured, never to be free of the war. Time lets you heal, but it doesn’t let you forget. Life isn’t quite that simple.  
Maybe the dead ones are the lucky ones, maybe they are finally at peace. Spirits, how selfish of Sokka to be jealous of the dead. But the dead don’t have to try and rebuild the world, the dead don’t have to rise from the ashes, despite how tired, how fucking tired they are, and try and negotiate a peace for everyone. Build a world that doesn’t rely on fighting and brutality, a world that communicates and compromises. The dead can rest, while they have to keep on fighting. Endless fighting, revolutions, unrest. Wining one battle opens the door to hundreds of more. 

A cold tear ran down Sokka’s face.

“Hey,” Zuko whispered, “It’s going to be okay. We won, Sokka, we should be happy, celebrating even.”  
Zuko let out a mirthless laugh.  
“Fuck, but it doesn’t feel like it.” Zuko admitted. 

Sokka stared at the older boy, dark black hair, pale skin, golden eyes. A young face like his shouldn’t bare scars, young eyes like his shouldn’t have had to seen battle fields, bodies. He shouldn’t have to had chosen a side to fight with, he shouldn’t have had to escaped his father, his own people, and actively fought against them. He shouldn’t have had to watch his younger sister completely break down, watch her be destroyed by her father and then fight her, sacrificing himself when she cheats, giving his life for someone else’s daughter, someone else’s sister (Sokka’s), his friend. And now he is forced to lead. Soon he will become Firelord, he is the one who has to repair the most broken nation, the very nation that hurt so many, including Zuko himself. He has to make the reparations, sign the treaties, make the laws, so much responsibility on just one boy. One sixteen year old boy, who just barely survived the war. Who is still facing his own demons, left behind by his father, who is still battling his own wars and now he has to attempt to fix generations of wrong. How is he expected to fix all of this? Can he not rest, recover himself first? No, because the world won't wait for a sixteen year old boy to recover, the world is not that generous. It’s not fair. 

“It’s not fair. We’re only kids. All of us.”  
Zuko glanced over to him, a sad, soft smile on his lips.  
“I know.” Zuko breathed in a deep breath, focusing back onto the sky above him. “I know.”  
“There is still so much to do. The world is broken. We still have to try and piece it together. People are hurt, people are full of hate, people- ” Sokka started rambling, his eyes watering some more.  
“Hey. Just- just take a second. The world’s fucked, that’s inevitable. We can deal with all of that tomorrow. Just breathe for now, focus on now, tonight. And well, even if the world hates us, even if there are huge problems and obstacles, I mean, at lest we have each other.” Zuko took Sokka’s hand in his, a warm stabilizer. Sokka smiled. He’s right. No matter the responsibilities they each hold, they will help each other, be at each other’s side and never leave. Because that’s what friends, no, family, that’s what family does.  
“Well someone is awfully positive, Mr. I’m Never Happy.”  
Zuko chuckled and rubbed Sokka’s hand in his gently.  
“You’re never going to forget that, are you?”  
“Nope. Not a chance, you drama queen.” Sokka happily stated.  
“Shut up, dork.”  
“Jerk.”  
They laughed together, fingers intertwined tightly, eyes never leaving each other. Stars looming above them, grass soft beneath them, souls connected within them. 

Who would ever imagine, the two sides of the war, the enemies, holding hands and laughing together? Who would have thought that the golden eyes, shared with the man who took away his mother, could bring Sokka so much joy? That the raspy voice of the boy who hunted him and his friends, could bring him so much comfort, so much calm. 

Maybe, just maybe, some things are alright. Maybe, this makes up for the unfair, unjust, pain of the past. Maybe, they can and will get through this all. Together. 

The stars shine brightly once again. Tonight everyone who survived the war will be able to see the stars. From Ba Sing Se, to the North Pole, to Kyoshi Island, to the Air Temples, to the very cell in which Ozai now sits. The innocent twinkling which fills the dark, vast night sky. Every night, no matter if behind clouds, no matter what battles have been fought, no matter who won, no matter who died, the stars will always shine. And maybe those we lost, those we failed, will shine there with them, resting peacefully, observing quietly. 

It doesn’t matter what side of the war you were on, it doesn’t matter about your morals or motives, doesn’t matter who you lost, what you lost, if you know who you are or what you’re doing. Nothing matters. 

Nothing matters, because there will always be the same stars for everyone.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading this short one shot!! this is the first time I’ve ever written a fanfic and I hope it’s okay. feel free to leave any constructive criticism in the comments if you’re feeling generous, but also please be nice I’m so nervous to post this lmao. sorry if there are any grammatical or spelling mistakes, honestly I just wrote this to see how the whole thing works and stuff so I’m flattered if you actually read it lol. I know this whole concept of ‘they were only kids’ has kind of been done a lot so yeah sorry for the unoriginality. 
> 
> anyway thank you so much again and I hope you have a great day!!


End file.
